The Senior Wellness Program began in 2005 in URI\u2019s Department of Physical Therapy. Every fall semester health professional students divide up into teams and assess and provide recommendations to a volunteer older adult living in the community. Janice Hulme, a clinical professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, has been the leading coordinator of the program. Since the program\u2019s inception she has evolved the program to include students and faculty from nursing, communicative disorders, pharmacy and nutrition at URI, as well as Occupational Therapy students and Physician Assistant students and faculty from Johnson and Wales University. Across professions, there are approximately 100 students involved and 30 older adult volunteers.<\/p>\n
The program meets four times over the fall semester. The 4 sessions include: Session 1 – where students partake in a team building exercise, Session 2 – where student teams meet to assess their assigned volunteer, Session 3 – where teams meet to discuss recommendations for the older adults based on their assessments, Session 4 – teams make their final assessments and provide recommendations. After the 4 sessions written recommendations and educational materials are submitted to faculty and then mailed to the older adult volunteers.<\/p>\n
Through the program students are immersed in a hands-on IPE experience Erica Estus, clinical associate professor in the College of Pharmacy, oversees the Pharmacy students participating in Senior Day. She describes the program as an opportunity to help students \u201cenhance their comfort with IPE and prepare them for other IPE opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Students learn how to effectively work in teams. Estus states the program teaches students about accountability: \u201cStudents are accountable for each team member and have to get their work done for the team.\u201d Building off of teamwork, students also learn the importance of communication and how in between sessions communication with their assigned team is crucial for developing a care plan that meets the volunteer\u2019s needs. The program provides the opportunity to practice both written and oral communication skills in an interprofessional setting. Students not only provide their recommendations to their assigned volunteer but also work in their teams to compose a cover letter sent to the volunteer, summarizing their recommendations. These recommendations are mailed as a package to the volunteer.<\/p>\n
Through meeting with the volunteer in an interprofessional team and discussing their assessments and recommendations with the team, students learn the unique roles and responsibilities of each member of the healthcare team. Hulme states through the program \u201c[Students] get to observe other students and what each profession\u2019s role is in terms of doing an assessment.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Pharmacy students the program is a requirement for their geriatric course taught by Estus. She feels the experience helps students naturally learn the different roles and responsibilities of different healthcare professions. In her course, the Pharmacy students present an electronic poster about their older adult volunteer from the Senior Wellness program and the recommendations from the team. Through observing and understanding the different assessment measures used by each discipline, such as the physical functioning assessment Physical Therapy students will complete and how these results impact Pharmacy\u2019s recommendations. For instance, a PT student may discuss how medications may impact the volunteer\u2019s balance. Estus states, \u201cThey start working with each other and talking and discussing and gain a different appreciation from each discipline.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the program\u2019s main focus is not ethics\/values students are exposed to this IPE competency. Students adhere to the HIPAA guidelines to protect patient privacy Additionally, students understand the responsibility they have to the team and to the patient. Estus notes by having to meet with the patient twice and then providing written education materials by mail students have an ongoing responsibility over the semester that they cannot let drop.<\/p>\n
Both Hulme and Estus describe how this hands-on program prepares students for working with real patients and gets them excited about IPE. Estus states, \u201c[it is] an opportunity to work with patients in a safe setting where [students] can still learn.\u201d Students take the project very seriously because they are dealing with real cases and students learn to not give out recommendations without assessing the patient, doing some research and discussing their recommendations with faculty.<\/p>\n
Hulme says her favorite part about the program is when she sees students down the road and they remember the program. Hulme notes \u201cThey remember me, because they remember the IPE program,\u201d and for her this shows the program truly left an impression on alumni working in the healthcare setting. Hulme values the connections students form across disciplines and networking opportunity the program provides. For instance, her PT students have to complete other projects that require interviewing or collaborating with a student from another health profession. Her students often connect with their teammates from the Senior Wellness Program. Hulme hopes students learn the value of each profession through the program and states as an example: \u201cI hope students have a positive experience with a dietetics student, so they will seek out the nutrition department when they go to work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Estus adds that for her Pharmacy students, \u201cIt excites students about the potential working to the top of their licenses. It is more than just dispensing but talking with patients and having the ability to make recommendations that could be meaningful.\u201d Estus notes through IPE experiences such as the Senior Wellness Program, many of her students desire a career path that allows them to function in a team. For her students \u201cit doesn\u2019t feel like a graded exercise – but the opportunity to learn from each other\u201d<\/p>\n
The program also includes a debrief and assessment. After the 2nd time students meet with the volunteer, the teams debrief for 30 minutes with faculty on how the experience went. Students are assessed by their team members, faculty and the older adult volunteers. Students complete a survey at the beginning and end of the program describing their attitudes toward teamwork, and an aging quiz to assess how they view older adults. Hulme notes students are always amazed how healthy adults at 85 and even 95 years old are and often comment how much they learned from their volunteer<\/p>\n
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